Musée d’art et d’archéologie d’Aurillac

The Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie is housed in a former monastery of Visitandines, built in 1682 and situated in the center of Aurillac. The Museum of Art and Archaeology offers to visitors an important archaeological collection. Since 1991, the renovated farms houses the Cultural Centre Pierre Mendes France including the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie, l’Ecole Nationale de Musique et de Danse as well as the youth activities service of Aurillac.

The buildings and gardens are opened to the public since the opening and the old stables have become an exhibition hall of the museum dedicated to the visual arts. Along this change a exhibition about umbrellas, the industrial tradition of the city, is added. In the 20s, Aurillac produced more than a million umbrellas a year. This collection allows visitors to discover the steps of production, workers and their work, as well as different styles of umbrellas manufactured. The Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie also preserves a collection of paintings and sculptures from the seventeenth to the twentieth century.